I regret that I couldn't write the other 2 days as the last couple of days have been full of awakenings i am anxious to record.

Primarily, I had a "duh" moment when I realized my cravings would likely be with me forever just as my cravings are still with me for the caffeine I used to drink before giving up coffee and tea in September of 1976. While it's not an every minute of every day thing, it is there. My reasons for abandoning coffee and tea were spiritual, so I had increased incentive to stick with it, and did. Later when I gave up all caffenated beverages, it was again only a spiritual motivation that allowed me to stick it out. Since my main purpose in juice feasting is to overcome my addiction to fat and cooked foods, I realized on day 13 I would have to have a spiritual motivation for this success as well. Not only that, I would have to be truly convinced that it was the right thing for me to do. Intellectually, I know it, but for me, it has to go deeper.

Yesterday being Mother's Day was entered into with a little bit of intrepidation. I ended up preparing 4 sets of meals. The first was a cooked food meal for my oldest son and his children who want nothing to do with health foods. After it was prepared, I found out he wasn't coming until later, so his children, who had spent the night, ate. We put it all away, then dragged it out again when he got there. Then our middle son and his wife came and we enjoyed a savory juice together: tomatoes, onion, spinach, parsley, red pepper, carrot, and sol. After that, my mom came over after work with my brother. They are attempting vegetarianism, so I fixed them a salad and they also had some leftever dessert from my oldest son's dinner. It was a little unsettling since things are so different this year for us. We all have a difficult time dealing with holidays now anyway, and juice feasting did not help that except I was more relaxed and at peace with the fact that things will never be as they once were.

The awakening that I had was that if you have raw foods and even juice available, people who don't normally eat this way will partake. (Remember Field of Dreams? My oldest son and grandson both requested some of my grapefruit /tangerine blend juice, and I was truly grateful to see my mom and brother eating salads for dinner. Sometimes little things are important.

As for day 15, I still can't believe I am here. I started to say, it is becoming more real, but I don't think it is. It still seems like a dream. I can't believe all the things I am learning; I really did not know there were that many things left to learn!

Last week, I lost 1 1/2 pounds. I quit weighing in the middle of week and decided to do a weekly weigh-in. I was gaining a pound a day, and I knew if I kept weighing it would freak me out. I also knew that if I kept doing what I was supposed to do, I would lose what I need to. I would have expected to lose more than 1 1/2 pounds, but added to the 8 1/2 from the first week, it makes for 5 lbs a week on the average. I am still having hydration issues, so I'm sure I will not start to see realistic weight changes until that gets resolved.

Juice wise, I read the Master Cleanser by Burroughs over the weekend as I have been intrigued by that, so I am going to try a couple of these each day complemented by a couple of juices. I will probably do a complete master cleanse during the course of this juice feast, but not right now.

I have also set a goal to spend more time in my garden, a few minutes each day. Today I harvested about half a dozen onions. I am trying to get watermelons, cantaloupe, tomatoes, and cucumbers, but it is early for them yet. The onions were a winter crop along with greens that are done and some parsley and fennel that is still going strong. I have a goal to produce as much of our food as possible.

Another thing I have observed is the need I have to clean up my life. Each day I see more and more ways in which my life in cluttered that is no longer acceptable. What a nice side benefit.